It isn’t something I do—but when Alta, the Adult Literacy Tutors Association, contacted me to ask if I would write something to bring some attention to their Readings Under the Trees event, I could not refuse. Their annual event, held at the Royal Botanical Gardens (I am surprised that it …

Someone suggested rather irately that I write about how the rich and powerful operate with a different code, with such impunity that they get away with behaviour that is abhorrent to the moral masses. Several people have been raising indignant voices, and the air is vibrating with their vehemence. I …

My father considered music of any kind to be unpleasant noise. In his later years, when he became a bible-toting Witness, he listened to some form of gospel. But as children, we were not allowed access for a long time. He was rough about it. I came to really hear …

A dear friend sent me a despondent message in response to my lament about divisive and crass online comments. “I want you to identify for me anyone else who has integrity that you know of personally in the world, because I can’t find too many,” he said. My first reaction …

We can’t pretend that this society, our society, has not become ugly and hateful. The place has been practically reduced to internecine warfare, spewing venom-like mud volcanoes. Try as you might to avert your eyes and focus on the little sparks of decency and beauty that still refuse to be …

Have you ever noticed that some people never get ill? They seem to be so perfectly constructed that no matter what dreadful ailments are soaring about the countryside, they remain untouched. Some years ago, I had written about how I had been plagued by chronic headaches since I was about …

According to Chinese astrology, from mid-February, 2026 will be known as the Year of the Fire Horse. From what I’ve gathered, this occurs only once in 60 years. I was born in 1966, falling into the category of a Fire Horse. Apparently there are many horse years—gold, water, wood and …

Everyone seems to be gloomy, and angry. The far-flung wishes for merriment, good health and prosperity making their way into our spaces seem regular enough, but if you have a conversation using voices, you can hear the bleakness. Things are tight financially (at least in my circle), relationships are floundering, …

Looking for a document amongst my stack of old papers, I came across a column I had written in April 1998 for The Independent, a paper whose closure I still mourn. It began playfully enough, with me saying that my four-year-old daughter proudly proclaims herself to be West Indian: “Ambitious …

He was ranting angrily about his wife of 25 years. He often came to me to vent; she did too. There was little to do but listen. They were spectacularly unsuited for each other, but the thought of getting a divorce was an unthinkable one, because according to the way …

We’re on the brink of losing many things that have shaped us. Makes me wonder what we would select to put into a time capsule for the future. Memories can be brittle. We would need physical reminders in the future to imagine the world left behind. As we enter the …

I don’t recall ever seeing such a high level of apprehension in our space. Do you? It’s coming from a multitude of shadowed places, so many that it is difficult to put a finger on any one thing as the root. Armadas and squadrons loom on our horizon. Conflicting reports …